I wasn't jealous.
This wasn’t jealously.
I was being protective.
I knew how Cain operated. He was charming without even trying. I didn’t want Mila to get hurt, unintentionally by him. Mila was the only thing that had ever been truly mine.
I lived in my parents’ cabin on their land.
I went to college and got the degree they wanted for me.
I was going to work for my dad’s business and take it over one day.
My whole life was planned out for me, had been since the day I was born.
Mila had always been… just mine.
My person.
My best friend.
My girl.
At that moment, I knew what I had to do. I needed to protect her, even if it meant going against…
My other best friend.
Chapter 8
—Leo—
“Look at Leo, being the Eagle Scout and starting the fire while we handle the real man shit.” Ashton was holding one of the kegs, and Sawyer was carrying the other one behind him down the stairs to my back porch.
“Eagle Scout?” Sawyer set down the booze a few feet away from the pit I was building for tonight’s festivities. “Do you not remember the time he nearly blew us all up trying to light that thing?”
“I was ten, you pansy! You were all too big of pussies to do it yourselves.”
“Do you see this face?” Ashton gestured to himself. “This face is the face of—”
“A pile of shit, yeah,” I interrupted. “I agree.”
He flipped me the bird, grabbing his balls. “Eat my dick, dude.”
I laughed, throwing him and Sawyer a cold beer from the cooler.
This was my life.
This was how I lived. Beers with my boys and bonfires with the people of the town. Everyone knew everyone.
Why would I want it to change? How could my life be anything but perfect?
Ashton pulled my attention, he was sitting near the pit, tearing the label off his beer.
I nodded toward what he was doing. “Damn, bro, been that long? Sexually frustrated are you?”
He chuckled, “You dick. I have no complaints. I get laid frequently and since you offended my sex life, I’ll make sure to have a threesome tonight. You know who you should be concerned about?”
“Who?” I opened my beer.
“Cain.”
“Cain?” I took a few swigs. “What’s up with him?”
“Ummm… what planet are you living on? Because here on earth, Cain has lived in the crevice of Mila’s asshole for the last two weeks.”
“They’re just working on their paper.”
“Right…”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“There’s a reason why Cain likes to choose chicks to be his partners in his assignments for class. He gets his dick wet as a bonus.”
“Shut up, Ashton. Mila isn’t fucking Cain.”
“Not yet.”
The fuck?
“I mean Ashton does have a point, Leo. It’s had to cross your mind. Right?” Sawyer waited for my response and I honestly didn’t have one.
The assumption did cross my mind.
A fuck load.
More than I cared to admit to two idiots who had no idea what Mila meant to me. We were just friends.
“I mean it wouldn’t be a bad thing,” Ashton added while Sawyer sat next to him in the recliner chair. “Your best guy friend, your best girl friend… she could do worse. Cain is probably the most decent out of us all.”
“Fuck you very much.” Sawyer pointed to himself. “I’m going to be a doctor.”
“You’re going to be a gynecologist.”
“Your point? I’m still going to be helping people.”
“Women. You’re going to be helping women with your hand up their puss—”
“Do you guys ever talk about anything other than getting laid?”
Our eyes shifted over to Mila, who was coming down the stairs from the porch with Cain behind her.
“Speak of the devil,” Ashton addressed. “We were just talking about you two study buddies. How’s,” he winked, “the thesis coming along?”
“I don’t know what you’re implying, but if you must know, it’s going great. Your best friend Cain here is very intelligent, despite his pretty boy face.”
Cain smiled, bright-eyed and bushy fucking tailed.
Was that infatuation I just saw dart across his stare?
“Why, Mi, that was almost a compliment.”
“Who the fuck is Mi?” Ashton blurted, looking back and forth between them.
“It’s what Cain apparently calls Mila now.” I grinned, nodding to her. “You know, kind of like you’re a pet.”
“I’m no one’s—”
Cain grabbed her by the nook of her neck and they locked eyes. “Mi, that would make you my bitch.”
She hit him in the stomach and he groaned. I beamed. Never been prouder of her than I was at that moment.
“What is it with men and owning shit? Are you two done having this pissing contest?”
Sawyer chuckled, “They’re having a pissing contest over you, Mi. Are you breaking our boys’ hearts now?”
“Hardly. You can’t break something they don’t have.”
I narrowed my eyes at her, about to ask what she meant by that, but Ashton clapped his hands together and abruptly stood up. “Boys.”
Mila cleared her throat.
“And Selfish Titties,” Ashton added. “Let’s see who gets laid tonight, because I can guarantee it’s going to be me. Can’t say the same for you bitches.”
I shook my head, contemplating why these guys were my best friends.
Sawyer lifted a bottle of Don Julio Tequila, pouring five shots into red solo cups and handing them to us.
“Why does mine look like three shots versus one?” Mila questioned, looking in her cup.
Sawyer stated the truth, “Because you can drink like a man.”
Mila could drink like one of the boys, especially when it came to tequila. She’d grown a tolerance to the fiery liquor over the last couple of years.
“Thank you,” she replied. “I think.”
Ashton raised his cup. “Here’s to what’s hard and stiff and comes out soft and wet.”
“Ugh. Gross,” Mila scoffed out. “I’m not toasting to that.”
“I was talking about bubblegum. But I can’t say I don’t like where your mind is at.”
She shook her head at Ashton. “Were you dropped on your head as a child?”
He gasped. “Who told you?”
She laughed, throwing her head back.
“There she is. Now let’s drink!”
We did, and Mila took hers down like the champ she was.
“Oh, by the way.” Ashton poured himself another. “I was talking about my cock. Not bubblegum.”
Of course he was.
—Mila—
The cabin was packed with people. It always was when Leo would throw these parties. He was infamous around these parts for that reason alone. The night went off without any trouble or issues, they always did. It didn’t matter how many people showed up, we were out in the middle of nowhere. This was what made Tennessee the place to live, everyone knew everyone and we were always there for each other. It was that southern soul you felt deep in your bones.